New Zealand Football Championship
| confed = OFC (Oceania) | founded = 2004 | folded = | divisions = | teams = 10 | feeds = | promotion = | relegation = | nationalitylevel = | levels = | domest_cup = White Ribbon Cup | confed_cup = OFC Champions League | champions = Team Wellington (2nd title) | season = 2016–17 | most_successful_club = Auckland City (6 titles) | tv = Sky Sports (Playoffs only) | current = 2016–17 | website = http://nzfc.co.nz }} The New Zealand Football Championship (known as the ASB Premiership from 2011 for sponsorship reasons) is the national association football league in New Zealand. It is a professional/semi-professional status Association football (soccer) sports Franchise league that is operated by New Zealand Football. The league is run separately from the New Zealand Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier and the other Winter Regional club competitions, and many of the teams competing are Franchises jointly run by Winter clubs. The Premiership does not include the Wellington Phoenix who play in the Australasian A-League. It is currently sponsored by Stirling Sports. Competition format There are two stages to the competition; "The League" (commonly referred to as "regular season") and "The Championship" (commonly referred to as "the playoffs"). The two teams that win the league phase (the "Minor Premier") and the Grand Final (the "champion") qualify for the OFC Champions League. Should the same team win both the Minor Premiership and the Championship, the second Champions League spot is granted to the league runner-up. This has occurred on numerous occasions; the first instance being in 2006 when Auckland City (premiers and champions) and Young Heart Manawatu qualified despite Canterbury United contesting the Grand Final. There are no lower divisions in the Premiership, thus no promotion and relegation exists, similar to leagues in Australia and in the United States. The League For the first four seasons, regular season had the teams play each other three times, however, this was changed to the present home-and-away system in 2008, due to financial difficulties affecting some of the clubs. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams progress to the playoffs. The Championship The playoffs are run as a home-and-away semi-finals series, with the winners progressing to a one-match Grand Final. The playoff phase in the inaugural season was contested by the top three clubs, whereby the Minor Premier (winner of league phase) received a bye and hosting rights for the grand final, with second and third placed teams playing off in a one-game preliminary final. The NZFC experimented with a five team playoff in the 2005–06 season, however, this was discontinued and the league reverted to the three-team playoff system for the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons. Clubs There are currently ten clubs from New Zealand playing in the 2016–17 Stirling Sports Premiership. Unlike most European leagues, there is no system for promotion and relegation. This system is similar to leagues in Australia and in the United States. Current clubs Former clubs Name changes *'Napier City Rovers → Hawke's Bay United' *'Otago United → Southern United' *'Waikato FC → WaiBOP United' Champions and premiers The teams that win the league phase (the "premier") and the Grand Final (the "champion") qualify for the OFC Champions League. Should the same team win both the Premiership and the Championship, the second O-League spot will be granted to league runner-up. Premiership Winners Championship Winners New Zealand Football Championship records All-time NZFC regular season records by club Updated to the end of the 2011/12 season :* Waitakere were awarded a goalless win against Auckland in 2006/07 :† Includes record as Napier City Rovers All-time NZFC playoff records by club Updated to, and including, the 2009/10 playoff semi-finals. :* Y.H. Manawatu finished 3rd in the 2008/09 playoffs with a better record than the other semi-finalist, Team Wellington. Team Wellington finished 3rd in the 2009/10 playoffs with a better record than the other semi-finalist, Auckland City. :† Includes record as Napier City Rovers External links *ASB Premiership Official Site *NZ Football Official Site Category:Leagues Category:Competitions Category:New Zealand Football Championship Category:New Zealand competitions Category:New Zealand leagues